It was an exciting game from start to finish, with the Kings coming out on top. The loss to the Houston Rockets meant that they would stay in 6th place instead of tying the Los Angeles Lakers for 3rd place in the ultra compemtive Western Conference. The win didn't come easy though, because for the second straight game the Kings had to play with another starter getting ejected in the third quarter.1ST QUARTER
The game started off white hot when the Kings made 5 straight shots with the rockets making 4 of 6. Tracy McGrady was letting Ron artest know that he was not letting him shut him down this time. The first meeting between the two, T-Mac dropped 40 points in a losing effort at Sactown. The second and third time, T-Mac was held to an average of 13 PPG. Despite great defense from John Salmons and Artest, both games were wins for the Rockets in Houston. This night T-Mac would take every jump shot he could instead of putting the ball on the floor.
Dikembe Mutombo was called for a technical when he did his famous finger wag. A call that really shouldn't have been called. On the other side, the Kings were dealing with rookie center Spencer Hawes nursing an ankle he thinks is ready to get back on the court. This gave 2nd year power forward Shelden Williams the opportunity to get more minutes. Kevin Martin was having a great start with 9 points to start in front of Brad Miller and Artest's 6 points each. At the end of the quarter, T-Mac's 13 points would give Houston the lead 28-29.
2ND QUARTER
Former King Bobby Jackson made his way into a low scoring quarter, and it seemed that nothing could go right for the Rockets who only made 17 points, making 8/20 FGs to go with 5 TOs. Meanwhile, the Kings shot only 9/20 for 21 points, staying on top of the Rockets with their defense. Things would only go south for the Kings in the next quarter as they led 49-46.
3RD QUARTER
T-Mac went off for the first 8 points for Houston and finished with 10 of the first 12 points and 14 points in the quarter. If that wasn't bad enough for the Kings, starting center Brad Miller complained about getting fouled with no call, which eventually led into getting ejected. He later apologized for getting ejected on the Kings' postgame radio show. That left the Kings shorthanded with no real back-up center except for the seldom used Lorenzen Wright, acquired from the Hawks in the Bibby trade.
The Kings lost all of their momentum as the Rockets went on a 7-0 run which finished as a 10-2 run. Mikki Moore's dunk changed the pace and sparked a 8-3 run for the Kings. Artest capped off the quarter to hit a fade away jumper with 0.01 left on the clock to give the Kings the lead 77-76.
4TH QUARTER
For the first 5:35 of the quarter, no field goals were made between either team. The only points that were scored during that time was 2 free throws each by McGrady, Luis Scola, Martin and Williams. Rafer Alston broke the silence with only the second 3 pointer of the game for the Rockets. Martin made the first FG of the quarter for the Kings followed by a huge Artest 3 pointer to tie the game at 89. T-Mac and Scola made both of their free throws again but what would happen next gave the Kings the fight to keep on playing.
Artest would get his 5th steal, causing McGrady to have his 5th TO. Martin got the ball and passed it to a wide open Francisco Garcia up court for a poster on Shane Battier. Pause it at 41 seconds and you got the poster. http://youtube.com/watch?v=XihKmPw8WF0
The game wasn't over yet. Battier banked a desperation 3 pointer from the top of the key to avoid a shot clock violation to put the Rockets up by 2 points. Artest answered back with another clutch 3. Martin drained 2 free throws and the Kings won a jump ball between Moore and Alston. The Kings were on their way to a victory when Artest tried to give a bad lob to Moore on the inside. Scola stole the ball and gave it to T-Mac. Garcia and Williams jumped in front of him at the same time. His shot was 1 inch short of winning the game, but it missed and the Kings won 99-98.
HIGHLIGHTS
Team High=*
Game High=**
Season High=+
KINGS
Artest: 30 pts*, 4 reb (2 off.), 5 stl**, 3 ast*, 4 TO*
Martin: 27 pts, 3 ast*
Miller: 10 pts, 7 reb*, 3 ast*, blk*, (ejected mid 3rd qtr)
Moore: 11 pts, 3 reb, 2 ast, blk*
Williams: 8 pts, 6 reb, 2 stl (bench)
Garcia: 8 pts, 4 reb, stl, ast (bench)
Salmons: 2 pts, 4 reb, blk* (bench)
Anthony Johnson: 3 pts, 3 ast*, stl
Quincy Douby: Block* on Alston, forced TO on shot clock violation) (bench)
ROCKETS
McGrady: 32 pts**, 7 reb, 4 ast, stl, 5 TO**
Scola: 20 pts (10-10 FT**), 8 reb, 2 ast, stl
Battier: 9 pts, 9 reb** (6 off.**) 4 blk**, 4 stl*, 2 ast
Alston: 16 pts, 8 ast**, 4 reb
Mutombo: 11 pts+, 7 reb (3 off.), 2 blk
Jackson: 6 pts, 2 reb, ast (bench)
Chuck Hayes: 2 pts, 5 reb (4 off.), 2 blk, 2 stl (bench)
Carl Landry: 0 pts, 6 reb, 2 stl, 2 ast, blk (bench)
The one thing the Kings are going to look back at is rebounds, offensive rebounds. The Rockets had 21 offensive rebounds, the exact number the Kings got outrebounded by, 28-49. Offensive rebounds lead to second chance points and lucky for the Kings, they got away with a win. They found a role to play after denying the Rockets their 50th win and tied for 3rd place and a chance for homecourt advantage in the Western Conference. Their role is the spoiler.
Kings Head Coach Reggie Theus said, "I’m very satisfied because it’s nice that we can play a role in the Western Conference. The guys understand that we have a role to play, and if our role is to mess it up, then that’s what we do. It gives us something to play for and it’s a big win for us down the stretch here.”
He also said that this was the Kings playoffs. It might as well because 6 of their laszt 8 games of the season are against playoff teams including Nuggets, Warriors, Hornets, Spurs and the Lakers twice. As for the Rockets, since their epic 22-win streak was snapped, they've gone 3-5. So win #50 will have to wait.
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